The present invention relates to the field of animal feeders. Specifically, it relates to a small animal feeding apparatus such as a feeder for squirrels.
Squirrels have a way of defeating most methods devised to keep them from eating food in a feeder that is meant for birds. As anyone who has attempted to prevent squirrels from getting access to a bird feeder knows, the task is nearly impossible. Squirrels are tenacious, and will keep finding ways to defeat anti-squirrel devices on bird feeders.
It is this tenaciousness that has led people to believe that squirrels could provide enjoyment for spectators if the spectators were to be able to watch squirrels play. Indeed, squirrels will climb onto squirrel or bird feeders to get food even though the feeder rotates or moves as the squirrels attempt to obtain the food. Several moving or rotating squirrel feeders exist in the prior art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,062, issued to Hubbard, discloses a squirrel feeder comprised of a wooden arm pivotally mounted off center. The short end of the arm has an ear of corn attached thereto by mounting it with its long axis along the long axis of the arm. The off center mount has one portion of the arm significantly heavier than the other, causing the heavier part of the arm to rotate downward so the corn normally is at the high end, with the arm resting substantially vertically. A squirrel can hop onto the Hubbard feeder and as the squirrel gets near the corn, its weight may cause the arm to rotate, swinging the squirrel to the lower position. However, this type of feeder's purpose of providing entertainment is limited by the fact that squirrels have very acute balance. Some squirrels could climb onto the Hubbard feeder and eat the corn without causing the arm to rotate. Further, squirrels can easily hang onto the wood with their paws, and even though the wood rotates, the squirrels could hang on to eat as much corn as they wish. Therefore, the only rotation of the Hubbard device would be one rotation of the arm so that the corn and squirrel were in the lower position. Additionally, since the Hubbard squirrel feeder is generally mounted to a tree, a squirrel could potentially remain on the tree and eat the corn without ever venturing onto the squirrel feeder.
Another animal feeder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,765, issued to Roush, Jr. Roush, Jr. discloses an animal feeder with a pivotally mounted hollow tube, the tube containing food. The tube has open ends that may be covered with diaphragms, the diaphragms serving the function of metering food distribution. The tube may rotate only through a restricted are. A stop member restricts the arc of motion of the pivotally mounted tube. When a squirrel or other animal climbs up the tube, its weight will cause the tube to rotate, the granular food contained in the tube will shift, and the tube with the animal on it will rotate down until it contacts the stop member. When this happens, since the food is shifting or has shifted to the now low end, a quantity of food is ejected from the tube, and the animal can eat the food. The tube then remains in its new position until the same or another animal climbs up the tube once again and rotates the tube in the other direction. This method of food distribution requires the squirrel or other small animal to climb the tube and allow it to rotate down to get food. The only rotation involved in Roush, Jr. is the limited arc of rotation of the tube, the arc of rotation being limited by the stop member. The stop member is further required in case the granular food does not shift when the pivotally mounted tube rotates downward. When the tube hits the stop member, the jarring force should shake the food loose so that it may slide down to the now low end of the tube.
These and other squirrel or small animal feeders involve a limited amount of rotation, and although they may provide a degree of entertainment, the entertainment is limited by the fact that only a small amount of rotation is involved. Further, due to their balance, squirrels may be able to get at the food without even rotating the feeders. Additionally, squirrels can easily hang on to a wood surface and eat their fill without getting off of the feeder or causing it to continue rotating.